Be Realistic

During my workout today, I listened to a podcast about how to maintain your healthy lifestyle once you’ve reach your goal weight. I actually was about to tweet something this morning that kind of went along these lines, but decided I’d write about here instead. There are so many things that I have noticed on my journey that I have to keep in mind in order to stay motivated and stay on track. I don’t just jump out of bed and run and it’s not always easy to eat right. We are human. We crave things that are terrible for us, but that’s life. We aren’t perfect. In this post, I will be sharing with you some things that I have noticed that I need to reach my goals and to stay on track.

I love being a planner, but it’s just not for everyone. If you’re not a planner for your everyday life, I honestly encourage you to be when it comes to being healthy and living a healthier lifestyle. It helps in so many ways.

One thing that I realized today is that mapping out your weekly workouts is so helpful. If you know what your plans for the week look like, then plan your workouts accordingly. That way when you get busy, you don’t miss a workout. You’ve already fit it in. Let’s be real. Sometimes, it doesn’t always happen that way. Plans change unexpectedly, therefore, don’t beat yourself up when it does. I have to say I do though. It bothers me if I can’t get a workout in, but we just have to remind ourselves that sometimes that happens and we can’t always help it.

For this coming week, I have already gone through and mapped out what days  I can go outside and workout in the evening and I have also noted what days that I need to get up early and use the bike. This way, I know ahead of time what days that I will be getting up early and which days I don’t have to. It’s nice to know that even on days when I have busy evenings, that I still have a backup workout plan. It keeps me on track. Let’s be honest, if we miss too many days, it’s hard to start back.

When mapping out your workouts, be realistic. Being realistic with yourself keeps you from getting discouraged. If you set goals that aren’t reachable, you’re going to want to give up because you’re not scratching off those goals and you’re not seeing any progress. It doesn’t matter if your workouts gradually increase by a few seconds or by minutes, if that is what works for you, then go for it! Every day, challenge yourself. When you set realistic goals for yourself and you meet them or pass them, it makes your feel amazing. Am I right? So today, I challenge you to map out your workouts for this week, but make them realistic. It doesn’t matter how small or how big, if it challenges you some, then that’s what matters. Chase those goals! Right now, I am working out a plan to a 5k. I will hopefully be posting that on here in the near future, so if you’re interested in running a 5k, this will hopefully help you. Please let me know in the comments if you would like to see that!

This post may seem short, but to be honest, I feel like there are other things that I can talk about in other posts that may help you all stay motivated toward your goals. Please if you need motivation, comment, message me on instagram, or tweet me. We all need motivation from time to time and I know it can be a struggle. I hope that all of you have an amazing week and reach your goals one step at a time! Until next time, stay fit and fab!

Psalm 139:14 KJV  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

 

 

 

Planning 101

Happy December! I hope that everyone is enjoying the CHRISTmas season so far. One thing that I mentioned recently in an instagram post was that I would share why planning helps me with my fitness and healthy lifestyle. In this series, I will be sharing several tips and reasons how planning helps over the next few weeks before we come into the new year. I thought that getting this out before the new year would help anyone who is wanting to change some things up for 2019. Great way to start right!

I LOVE planning! Picking out a planner every year just makes me happy. Haha. Is there anyone else like this? I would really like to know. I took a friend to the store the other day and I spent a little too long in the planner/journal section, found one that I considered, but still didn’t buy it. There’s just a lot of things that I need a planner to have before I decide on one. It has to have the whole month on one spread, as well as, each day laid out individually. Sounds simple, but it’s not for me. I actually ended up going back to that same store a few days later and buying two different planners. Two? Yes, two. One for my purse and one for the house. Does that sound weird? It’s just nice to always have one with you for those times when you remember something you have to do or you make plans with friends while you are out and about. Then I have one for home because before I go to bed, sometimes I feel like writing so I will jot a few things down before I hit the hay. I know you probably want to know those reasons now instead of hearing me ramble on about my love for planners so here goes.

There are several reasons why I like to plan and why I make lists. One reason is that it gets all the information in my head onto paper. This way I don’t have to try to remember every detail and every good idea that comes into my head. haha. One thing that I have talked about I don’t know how many times is meal planning. Sit down and think about what you are going to be doing this week and how much time you will have to prep your meals. If you don’t have much time during the week, either plan out easier meals that week or just prep it on a day early in the week that you do have more time. This way you have everything squared away and you don’t have to stress about what you are going to eat or when you are going to fix it. Doing this, keeps you from running out at lunch and buying fast food.

Making a list of everything that you need to buy before hitting the grocery store, will keep you from making poor decisions and buying more than you need (healthy, but it may go bad too soon) and also, more of what you don’t need (unhealthy items). If you are interested in reading more on this, check out my Meal Planning post!

For me, writing down what I am having for breakfast, lunch, and maybe dinner (just depends), helps me keep track of what I am eating. It’s also nice to plan out a good breakfast. It helps me look forward to the morning and get up early when I need to. Also, some mornings I try to hit the gym early before work so planning out which days I am going to sit down and eat breakfast versus the days I need a smoothie on the go, definitely helps! I don’t have to keep track of those things in my head.

One thing I recommend that I love to do is setting aside some time to plan out your week or month beforehand so you know what you’ve got to do, what you’ve got to go pick up at the store, and also, to know what you have to spend. Keeps you from worrying! If you have a hard time finding a planner that works best for you, make a bullet journal. This way you can ensure that you have all the pages in your planner that you need.

I know that everyone isn’t a planner, so you may be wondering what you can do. Well, why don’t you like planning? Is it because you’re more a spur-of-the-moment kind of person? There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you want to keep track of what you are eating and trying to figure out when you can workout, then a small bit of planning may help. You don’t have to be as extensive as me, but a little planning can go a long way. Try it and see what happens. Maybe there’s another reason why you don’t like planning, whatever it may be, figure out what that reason is and adjust accordingly. If you need help with this, please let me know. I can try to help. Hey, that’s why I started this blog.

Well, I hope that everyone has a fabulous week! And remember, stay fit and feel fab!

Luke 14:28-30 KJV For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Veggie Roast

Welcome to December! I hope that everyone is enjoying the Christmas season so far! I know that this time of year brings a lot of tasty food filled with calories, but in this post, I will be sharing a healthy yet incredibly tasty veggie roast that is a crowd pleaser.

What you will need:

1 Bag of brussel sprouts

1 Butternut squash

1/3 Cup of light syrup

1/3 Cup low sodium soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 Pack of turkey bacon (of course, you can use as much as you’d like)

Here’s what you’ll do:

Cut the butternut squash up into bite size pieces and cut the brussel sprouts into halves.

Cover the baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Lay out the brussel sprouts and butternut squash, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Mix them up with your hands to ensure that all pieces are coated well. Cut the bacon into small pieces and lay onto the veggies until you have the desired amount.

Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes until the veggies are nice and brown.

Mix the soy sauce and syrup together in a bowl and set aside until the veggies are out of the oven. After the veggies are out of the oven, put them in the sauce bowl and mix together until the veggies are evenly coated. That’s it! Super easy and tasty! Serve this dish hot for a crowd pleasing side.

If you try this recipe, please feel free to comment down below and let me know what you think! Thank you so much for checking out this post! I hope that you have an amazing week and as always, stay fit and feel fab!

3 John 1:2 KJV Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

November Series: Plan It!

This week I am going to be talking about reason #3 of why we lose motivation to be healthy and workout.

Reason #3: I don’t have the time to workout nor the money to eat healthy!

Fix it: Plan it!

Like I have stated before, I’m a planner. I love having a planner and filling it with what I am doing that week or making a list of what I need to do either that day or one in the future. It’s just fun to me. Now I know that not everybody is a planner, but if you are finding a hard time fitting in a workout or eating healthy, then try planning your workout and your meals and see how it goes.

I recommend that you set aside some time to plan. Yes, plan your planning. Haha. You may say ‘Who does that?’ Well, I do! It’s nice as well. Something that I like to do is go at least once a week to a nice breakfast spot with a relaxed vibe and work on my Bible study, do some planning, and eat something tasty. I haven’t been keeping up with that lately because I have been drinking smoothies and going to the gym some mornings, but I need to get back into it. I talked more about planning in my ‘Plan It’ post if you’re interested in checking it out.

Planning my lunches are a great way for me to stay away from running out at lunch and grabbing something unhealthy. It also helps save money. At the end of the week or at the beginning of the next, go to the grocery store and get the ingredients for the meals you have planned. Also, having a plan in hand before going into the store, helps prevent wasting. You don’t buy too much and therefore, you use everything or most of what you buy. At least, it works for me. You can also use smaller containers and lunchboxes if you are trying to do portion control. I have been doing this lately. Cutting back can be hard, but honestly, we don’t need that much food. If we stop when we are full, imagine how great we would feel afterwards. A way to minimize how much we eat is by keeping the containers small. If we can’t fit it in, we can’t take it and if we don’t have it on the plate, we aren’t tempted to eat it. Am I right?

As far as planning on your workouts, we all have different schedules, so this is up to you mostly. For me, I workout in the morning if I can and then sometimes even in the evening too. If I can’t in the morning, then I try to go in the evening. The weekends vary depending on what is going on. Also, in the evening, I pack my gym bag, fix my lunch, and all those good things so that they are ready in the morning. I talked about this more in the first post of this series. If you haven’t checked it out, go ahead click here.

I hope that this post has helped whoever is reading this. If it has, please let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you! I hope all of you have a great Monday and a Happy Thanksgiving and I will see you next time! Stay fit and feel fab!

Luke 14:28 KJV For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

 

A View from the Other Side

Remember your last workout? Remember how you felt before? It may have been a struggle to get up early and get moving or to even get out the front door. I understand that feeling! Maybe you felt great and ready to take on that workout. Whatever you may have been feeling before, you’re glad you worked out in the end, right? Well, the main reason for this blog post is to put those post-workout thoughts into motivation for next time.

Do you remember how you felt after your last workout? Did you feel amazing and accomplished? I bet you did. I know I do! In this post, I will list five things that I noticed  after a workout that will hopefully be motivation to get you up and moving and keep me moving as well. Let’s get started.

1. Ready for your next workout! Recently, I have noticed that when I am finished, I feel great and am ready for the next one. I remember a few weeks ago, I had a really great run and was ready to do that again and keep building on that.
2. Down the water! Today, I noticed that once I finished my workout, I drank not only my coffee, but several things of water. I was downing the fluids! Getting that workout in, motivates you in other ways too!
3. Enjoying your food more! What I’ve realized is that I thoroughly enjoy my breakfast/lunch (Brunch? Haha) more when I know I’ve already worked out. Maybe it’s because I know I’ve worked hard already and earned that grub. Refuel!
4. Helps make better choices! Something that I feel working out does for you is help you make the right choices food wise. Honestly, if you worked out really hard that morning and you are trying to lose weight, what is the likelihood that will eat something unhealthy later in the day? On one hand you may say I worked out really hard this morning and I deserve this and that’s okay sometimes, but on the other, you may say I worked out too hard earlier to throw it away for this piece of cake. I feel that working out makes me enjoy my food, but also keeps me on track. Puts me in a healthy state of mind.
5. Makes for a better, more productive day! When you get up early to workout or just workout in general that day, how much do you normally get done throughout the course of that day? I would say more! How do you feel throughout the day? Better? More accomplished? Happier? I know I do!

Let’s be honest here, the truth is working out makes life better in many ways. If we only would channel how we feel after our last workout before we start our next one, we would probably be more likely to complete the next workout! I am speaking to myself here as well. It’s not always easy getting going for every workout. It’s just not. Life hits us hard sometimes and somedays don’t go as planned, but if we remember why we started, how we felt last time we finished a workout, maybe we can stay on track longer and make being healthy a life choice instead of a temporary one. Who’s with me?

If any of these points helps you, please let me know down in the comments below or on twitter. If you aren’t already, feel free to follow me on Twitter @FitandFabYou1, as well as, on Instagram at instagram.com/fitandfabyou1 for updates on my blog posts and other motivational tweets.

Have a great Monday!

Philippians 4:13 KJV  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Money Saving March: Week 4

Well, it’s here. The last part of the Money Saving March series. I hope this has been motivational and also, given you some ideas to help you along your healthy journey. Let me know in the comments or tweet me @FitandFabYou1!

1. Start refilling your water bottles! Instead of buying bottles and bottles of water and cases and cases of water, start refilling your bottles if you can. Whether you have a place at work to refill or you take them home and refill for the next day, it will help you save a few bucks just by filling up every so often instead of just grabbing another one.
2. Large Water Bottles! This can be helpful for those of you who do not have a water cooler at work. When you go to the store, invest in a large water bottle. This way you will have a better chance of getting your water in for the day and also saving some money on the bottled water.
3. Get outside! When you’re planning a hangout with friends, get outside. Go for a walk or a run! You can even go for a hike! Great way to get some exercise and also, not break the bank.
4. Buy one. Sell one. If you losing weight and trying to clear out your wardrobe, try this! When you buy one shirt, get rid of a shirt you already have.
5. You can also use shopping as a reward! If you workout the way you planned that month, reward yourself with a new workout shirt! Rewards are always nice! Plus this keeps you from shopping too often.

Have a great week!

Money Saving March: Week 3

Week 3 of my money saving march series is here! I hope you have enjoyed my other two post about how to save money and live healthy! Here are a few more that I hope will inspire and help you along your healthy journey.

1. Meal Planning! I love to meal plan and I will go into this in further detail in a later post, but meal planning can keep you from picking up unnecessary items and also keep you on a budget.
2. Create meals that use similar ingredients! I like to try to use any leftover groceries that I have from the previous week on any meals that week. This way I am not wasting food or money.
3. Shopping at Aldi! I love shopping here! Such deals! Definitely worth checking out!
4. Workout with what you’ve got! Gym memberships can be expensive, so if you have weights at home, use those instead. Like I’ve said before you can workout outside. That’s free!
5. Fix your lunches instead of going out! You can create multiple lunches using meal planning instead of going out to lunch. Nothing wrong with going out sometimes, but it will help you eat better and save money.

Let me know in the comments below if you have tried any of these ideas and if they worked for you! Also, tweet me @FitandFabYou1 and let me know how your healthy journey is going!